The burglar who broke into Oast Hatch, a large detached property in Oast Road, Oxted, Surrey, on Sunday, August 2nd, 1959, might have been a woman. If she was, she was also a vicious killer, for she battered the owner, Mrs. Florence Gooding, 73, with a blunt instrument and left her horribly injured in bed. Mrs. Gooding died next day in hospital.
The only clue was a smudged fingerprint, and although 2,000 men were tested, it did not match. Police believe it may have been left by a woman.
In the previous few weeks there were 16 burglaries within half a mile of Oast Road. As a result of their visiting 2,000 local houses, the police were able to clear up six other unsolved crimes going back over a decade.